The
pipa is a four stringed lute (or Chinese guitar)with
a pear-shaped body. Its short, bent neck has 30 frets which extend
onto the soundboard, offering a wide range (3.5 octavos). This instrument
appears in texts dating up to the second century B.C. There are a
lot of written texts of the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) about pipa
music played and the stories that inspired the composition for those
pipa pieces. Since the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the pipa is one of
the most popular Chinese instruments, and has maintained its appeal
in solo as well as chamber genres. The pipa technique is characterised
by spectacular finger dexterity and virtuosi programmatic effects.
Rolls, slaps, pizzicato, harmonics and noises are often combined into
extensive tone poems vividly describing famous battles or other exciting
scenes. The instrument is also capable of more lyrical effects in
pieces inspired by poetry, landscapes and historical themes. Pipa
music has been loved by Chinese people through centuries and there
used to be a large repertoire of pipa music, a lot of them were lost,
and some of them were handed down from generation to generation through
individual artists and scholars. (more
information ...)

[1]Qin-Pipa

[2]Tang-Pipa (with straight neckt)

[3]Tang-Pipa (With
bent neck)

[4]modernpipa

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The above is an illustration of the time evolution from qin-pipa
to the modern pipa through the influence of hu-pipa (click herefor explanation)

Traditionally
pipa is mainly a solo instrument, some time played in folk ensembles
such as traditional silk and bamboo ensembles that are common found
in South-East China, or used to accompany story telling, or local
opera. Nowadays, the pipa is more and more used in contemporary compositions
for ensemble, orchestra, and various combinations with both Chinese
and western instruments, including works for pipa and orchestra (pipa
concertos).(more
about the history of pipa)